George,

Joseph Cheek's e-mail concerning France's campaign for use of condoms to prevent AIDS and unintended pregnancy reminds me of the absurdity of the U.S. and its citizens when it comes to addressing issues related to sexuality. We have a society that is overwhelmed by sexual images in advertising and in every media. We have fashions that leave little to the imagination. We have young people whose role models make older Americans blush.

Yet at the same time, we have teen pregnancy rates that are unacceptable. We have perhaps the highest rate of unintended pregnancy outside of third world countries. I don't even want to mention the frequency of sexually transmitted infections.

But we also have a society in which advertising of condoms is forbidden in mass media and sexuality educations programs stress abstinence alone. The religious right hardliners have taken over our political process and promote a point of view that ignores our unique human capacity for love and expressing that emotional and spiritual bond. They would teach that sexuality only has a purpose in procreation and a heterosexual marital union. They ignore the fact that the educational demands of a post-industrial society have delayed the marital commitments of young people. At the same time young people are developing physically and sexually earlier and earlier. We have truly created a collision course for our youth and it is time that we face these facts and be honest with ourselves.

It is time for us to wake up and take back our society with honesty, reason, information and maturity. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and hope that all will be well in the future. We have to arm our citizens with lifelong information and responsibility relating to the positive role of sexuality in our lives. We can only do this with openness and truth. We deserve nothing less.

Ben Greenberg (electronic mail, August 6, 2003)